Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Grows Stock Position in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS)

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board significantly increased its stake in Keysight Technologies by 478.3%, owning 7,744 shares worth approximately $1.16 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Insider transactions included CEO Satish Dhanasekaran and CFO Neil Dougherty selling shares, reducing their holdings by 0.57% and 9.58% respectively.
• Keysight Technologies reported earnings of $1.70 per share for the quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, and its stock has an average target price of $187.50 according to various analysts.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Free Report) by 478.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,744 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,405 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Keysight Technologies were worth $1,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KEYS. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 97.8% in the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 182 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Keysight Technologies in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Keysight Technologies by 85.0% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 235 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Keysight Technologies by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 263 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Keysight Technologies by 241.8% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 270 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. 84.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Keysight Technologies

In other Keysight Technologies news, CFO Neil Dougherty sold 12,215 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.60, for a total transaction of $2,010,589.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 115,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,966,528.80. The trade was a 9.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Page sold 7,368 shares of Keysight Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total value of $1,162,523.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,835,651.08. This trade represents a 16.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,830 shares of company stock worth $5,124,049. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Keysight Technologies Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of KEYS traded up $2.63 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $169.72. 411,971 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 968,515. The stock's 50-day moving average is $162.87 and its 200-day moving average is $158.60. The company has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.11. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.43 and a fifty-two week high of $186.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a current ratio of 3.39.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Keysight Technologies Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Keysight Technologies from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $156.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $187.50.

About Keysight Technologies

Keysight Technologies, Inc provides electronic design and test solutions to commercial communications, networking, aerospace, defense and government, automotive, energy, semiconductor, electronic, and education industries in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Communications Solutions Group and Electronic Industrial Solutions Group.